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And what will such a Principle essentially be?
The potentiality of the Universe: the potentiality whose
non-existence would mean the non-existence of all the Universe
and even of the Intellectual-Principle which is the primal Life
and all Life.
This Principle on the thither side of Life is the cause of Life-
for that Manifestation of Life which is the Universe of things is
not the First Activity; it is itself poured forth, so to speak,
like water from a spring.
Imagine a spring that has no source outside itself; it gives
itself to all the rivers, yet is never exhausted by what they
take, but remains always integrally as it was; the tides that
proceed from it are at one within it before they run their
several ways, yet all, in some sense, know beforehand down what
channels they will pour their streams.
Or: think of the Life coursing throughout some mighty tree while
yet it is the stationary Principle of the whole, in no sense
scattered over all that extent but, as it were, vested in the
root: it is the giver of the entire and manifold life of the
tree, but remains unmoved itself, not manifold but the Principle
of that manifold life.
And this surprises no one: though it is in fact astonishing how
all that varied vitality springs from the unvarying, and how that
very manifoldness could not be unless before the multiplicity
there were something all singleness; for, the Principle is not
broken into parts to make the total; on the contrary, such
partition would destroy both; nothing would come into being if
its cause, thus broken up, changed character.
Thus we are always brought back to The One.
Every particular thing has a One of its own to which it may be
traced; the All has its One, its Prior but not yet the Absolute
One; through this we reach that Absolute One, where all such
reference comes to an end.
Now when we reach a One- the stationary Principle- in the tree,
in the animal, in Soul, in the All- we have in every case the
most powerful, the precious element: when we come to the One in
the Authentically Existent Beings- their Principle and source and
potentiality- shall we lose confidence and suspect it of
being-nothing?
Certainly this Absolute is none of the things of which it is the
source- its nature is that nothing can be affirmed of it- not
existence, not essence, not life- since it is That which
transcends all these. But possess yourself of it by the very
elimination of Being and you hold a marvel. Thrusting forward to
This, attaining, and resting in its content, seek to grasp it
more and more- understanding it by that intuitive thrust alone,
but knowing its greatness by the Beings that follow upon it and
exist by its power.
Another approach:
The Intellectual-Principle is a Seeing, and a Seeing which itself
sees; therefore it is a potentiality which has become effective.
This implies the distinction of Matter and Form in it- as there
must be in all actual seeing- the Matter in this case being the
Intelligibles which the Intellectual-Principle contains and sees.
All actual seeing implies duality; before the seeing takes place
there is the pure unity [of the power of seeing]. That unity [of
principle] acquires duality [in the act of seeing], and the
duality is [always to be traced back to] a unity.
Now as our sight requires the world of sense for its satisfaction
and realization, so the vision in the Intellectual-Principle
demands, for its completion, The Good.
It cannot be, itself, The Good, since then it would not need to
see or to perform any other Act; for The Good is the centre of
all else, and it is by means of The Good that every thing has
Act, while the Good is in need of nothing and therefore possesses
nothing beyond itself.
Once you have uttered "The Good," add no further thought: by any
addition, and in proportion to that addition, you introduce a
deficiency.
Do not even say that it has Intellection; you would be dividing
it; it would become a duality, Intellect and the Good. The Good
has no need of the Intellectual-Principle which, on the contrary,
needs it, and, attaining it, is shaped into Goodness and becomes
perfect by it: the Form thus received, sprung from the Good,
brings it to likeness with the Good.
Thus the traces of the Good discerned upon it must be taken as
indication of the nature of that Archetype: we form a conception
of its Authentic Being from its image playing upon the
Intellectual-Principle. This image of itself, it has communicated
to the Intellect that contemplates it: thus all the striving is
on the side of the Intellect, which is the eternal striver and
eternally the attainer. The Being beyond neither strives, since
it feels no lack, nor attains, since it has no striving. And this
marks it off from the Intellectual-Principle, to which
characteristically belongs the striving, the concentrated strain
towards its Form.
Yet: The Intellectual-Principle; beautiful; the most beautiful of
all; lying lapped in pure light and in clear radiance;
circumscribing the Nature of the Authentic Existents; the
original of which this beautiful world is a shadow and an image;
tranquil in the fullness of glory since in it there is nothing
devoid of intellect, nothing dark or out of rule; a living thing
in a life of blessedness: this, too, must overwhelm with awe any
that has seen it, and penetrated it, to become a unit of its
Being.
But: As one that looks up to the heavens and sees the splendour
of the stars thinks of the Maker and searches, so whoever has
contemplated the Intellectual Universe and known it and wondered
for it must search after its Maker too. What Being has raised so
noble a fabric? And where? And how? Who has begotten such a
child, this Intellectual-Principle, this lovely abundance so
abundantly endowed?
The Source of all this cannot be an Intellect; nor can it be an
abundant power: it must have been before Intellect and abundance
were; these are later and things of lack; abundance had to be
made abundant and Intellection needed to know.
These are very near to the un-needing, to that which has no need
of Knowing, they have abundance and intellection authentically,
as being the first to possess. But, there is that before them
which neither needs nor possesses anything, since, needing or
possessing anything else, it would not be what it is- the Good.
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